The 2007 edition of Louis Vuitton cup, whhose winner will determin the team that will challenge Swiss side Alinghi for the America's cup from June 23 to July 4 has been inaugurated yesterday.
I am not particularly fan of this sport open to a fortunate elite but I followed it with lots of interest back in 2003 when the Swiss side Alinghi iwon. A swiss team, from a landlocked country was the first team ever able to bring back the trophy in europe ! First race on monday

I guess since there is no Australian team, we're best supporting our neighbors on the other side of the ditch. Lets hope Emirates Team New Zealand can bring the cup back down to this part of the world.

Luna Rossa/Prada & Alinghi usually are my favorites, but it would be nice if a US team won and brought the event to this side of the world. . . much more affordable to go watch it for a couple of days.

Quoting Bill142 (Reply 1):Lets hope Emirates Team New Zealand can bring the cup back down to this part of the world.

I wouldn't be to hopefully! Even if ETNZ do win it (and I hope they do) there is no guarantee they will hold the next cup in NZ. Apparently Emirates sponsorship dollars could mean the next cup being held in Dubai. This could also be the case if Alinghi win. The fact that it could held during the Northern Hemisphere winter would mean they could avoid clashes with Olympics, European Football Champs. and World Cup. Also Dubai is much more accessible from Europe than NZ would be.

Just got to hope for some wind tomorrow so that they can actually get some races in!!

Quoting BMIE70 (Reply 3):Apparently Emirates sponsorship dollars could mean the next cup being held in Dubai

I think EK could lose an entire market that they have fought for if they did. NZers are very patriotic about the America's Cup, and there would be an uproar about it, and probably a national boycott of EK.

Quoting BMIE70 (Reply 3):I wouldn't be to hopefully! Even if ETNZ do win it (and I hope they do) there is no guarantee they will hold the next cup in NZ. Apparently Emirates sponsorship dollars could mean the next cup being held in Dubai.

Actually, this is a misconception, (presumed, initially by Emirates). The NZ govt is actually the biggest individual sponser of TNZ, and as part of the sponsorship contract, in the event that TNZ win the America's Cup, the first defense must be held in NZ

It's always hard to predict winners before these events start because there are so many unknowns. Initial impressions favour the defender, but it's hard to say. Hence, I believe no bookies are offering any odds on the winner until a few races have been run.